Mail box door setting signal



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July 2, 1957 F. W. FOSTER MAIL BOX DOOR SETTING SIGNAL Filed March l0,1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 2, 1957 F. w. FOSTER 2,797,860

MAIL BOX DOOR SETTING SIGNAL Filed March l0, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 26./I3 y. IZ [D EVZO Z9 28 ZIT/VENTO@ FEDVV. ESTE/ .E Ywmu., moe/VFY UnitedStates Patent MAIL BOX DOOR SETTING SIGNAL Fred-W. Foster, Indianapolis,Ind. Applicah'on March 10, 1953, Serial No. 341,482

1 Claim. (Cl. 23235) This invention relates to a signaling deviceforattachmeut to `a rural mailbox, whichsignal is operated .automaticallyby opening of the end door of the box, so that a llag or other device israised to indicate that there is either mail in the box or that mail hasbeen removed from the box. This signal is entirely apart from theordinary signal which is utilized to indicate to the mail carrier thatthere isV mail in the box requiring his attention.

One of the primary objects of the invention is to provide an automaticsignal which may be attached to the box without having to drill anyholes or provide any special construction of the box itself to supportthe signal thereon. A further primary object of the invention is toprovide a signaling device which may indicate to the personhaving thebox that either the mail carrier has been along and taken the mail outof the box or that he has stopped to put mail in the box.

In many cases, in rural districts, the house of the owner of the box isat quite a distance from the box itself, and particularly in hadweather, it is a great convenience to know whether or not there is anymail in the box to be picked up by the owner, or whether the mailcarrier has been past and picked up mail which the owner hasleft in thebox. That is, the owner is advised by observing the condition of thesignal on the box whether or not the mail carrier has been `along topick up mail, or whether the mail carrier has left mail in the box. Thissignaling device is therefore of great benefit in that it gives theowner of the box positive indication whether or not it is in order forhim to make a trip to the box to pick mail which has been depositedtherein.

These and many other objects and advantages of the invention, includingthe unique combination of the various elements as set forth in theappended claim, will be better understood by those versed in the art inthe following description of one particular form of the invention as isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a view inside elevation of a structure embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail on a greatly enlarged scale onthe line 2--2 in Fig.l; and

Fig. 3 is a view in end elevation of the box to which the invention hasbeen applied and in which view the signal has been operated from thatposition shown in full lines in Fig. l to the position shown in dashlines.

The invention is shown as applied to a conventional mail box of thestyle and shape well known to those versed in the art, which box has anend door 11 normally opened by a spring latch member 12 at the upper endportion thereof engaging under a spring 13. This box 10 is of the typewhich has been approved by the Postmaster General.

It is an all metal box, and one of its peculiarities is, as is indicatedin Fig. 2, that it has a floor 14 from which extends downwardly atsubstantially right angles thereto a flange 15 to lie along the loweredge portion of the side wall 16, 4rivets 17, Fig. 1, being passedthrough the ange Patented July 2, 1957 ICC 15 and the lower end portion16 to hold the oor 14 in position at an elevation above the lower edgeof the side wall 16.

A signal mounting plate 18 is formed to have at least two spaced apartjaws 19 and 20 bent around from the lower under edge 21 of the plate 18to t against the inside of the oor ange 15 with the plate 18 bearingfrictionally against the lower end portion of the wall 16. That is, theplate 18 is engaged over the lower edge of the side wall 16 by means ofthe jaws 19 and 20 being vcarried upwardly over the flange 15 with theplate 18 being carried upwardly over the lower edge of the wall 16, allas indicated in Fig. 2. The plate 18 is fixed in position along thelower portion of the wall 16 in the engagement Vjust described by anysuitable means, herein shown as by two set screws 22 and 23screw-threadedly passing through the plate 18 to bear against the wall16, Fig. 2.

On the rear end of the plate 18 in reference to the front of the box 10over which the door 11 lits, there is pivotally mounted a signal arm 24:conned to 'a swinging action parallel to the side wall 16. The arm 24is, in the presentshowing, secured to the plate 18 by means 0f a rivet25. On the outer free end of the arm 24, there is somel sort of a signalindication, herein shown as a plate 26 in the nature of a ag, which maybe given any particular decoration desired, yellow being one colorsuggested so it would be distinguished from the usual flag 27a, Fig. 3,which is normally colored red to attract the attention of the mailcarrier when it is in an up position, all as is well known to thoseversed in the art. Incidentally, in Fig. 3, the structure which formsthe present invention is located on the side of the box 10 opposite tolthat side on which the ag 27a is mounted.

The arm 24 and the height of the plate 26 are made to be sufch that whenthe arm 24 is swung from a normally lower position as indicated by thesolid lines in Fig. l to the upright or dash line position, the plate 26there is a bracket 28 formed by carrying the plate 18 downwardly andthence outwardly at substantially right angles. From the outer forwardedge portion of the bracket 28, there is turned upwardly a leg 29. Alink 30 is pivoted by one end by any suitable means such as by a rivet31 to this leg 29, the rivet 31 having its axis somewhat below the axisof the rivet 25 at the other end of the plate 18.

A connecting -rod 32 has its forward end pivotally connected to theother end of the link 30 by any suitable means, to be described later,and the other end of the connecting rod 32, that is the rear end, ispivotally connected by means of the rivet 33 to the arrn 24 at adistance spaced along the arm 24 from the rivet 25. That is, the rivet33 is carried by the arm 24 intermediate the plate 26 and the rivet 25,being nearer to the rivet 25 than it is the plate 26.

A finger 34 has an enlargement 35 near one end to abut the face of thearm 32 removed from the link 30, and from this enlargement 35 the finger34 extends through the arm 32 and through the link 30 to have a head 36riveted over so as to rockably interengage the link 30 with the arm 32.

This nger 34 preferably has a member 37 on its outer free end to be inthe path of the door 11 of the box 10 when that door is opened. Thismember 37 may take any number of a variety of forms such as simply arubber button, or even a roller, so long as it is in the path of thedoor 11, Of course the member`37 may beomitted if it is'desired that thefinger 34 itself ride on the ange 38 of the door.

An important feature of the connecting rod 32 is that .Y it hasaforwardportion 39 which extends angularlydownr Wassily :is referente. 1Q thelongitudinal axis `Oftherrlaior length of the connecting rod 32 as itextends forwardly from the rivet 33. The length of this downwardlyturned portion 39 is made to be such that when the arm `24 is i rockedto its vertical position, as indicated by thedash lines in Fig. 1, themajor straight length of the connecting rod 32 will extend from that arm24 to the forward the center of the rivet 371. The connecting link 30will in this position be parallel to the portion 39. By reason ofthevweight of the connecting rod 32, the link 30, and

the linger 34, the signal arm 24 will be maintained in its uprightposition and held there against any wind pressure or vibration due towind so that the Signal plate 26 will remain visible until it is resetby lifting up on the finger 34v so as to lift the connected members andpermit them to swing around to bring the arm 24 back into its loweredposition.

The operation of the invention is this-normally the structure rests inthe position wherein the weight of the arm 24 and the plate 26 carriesthe connecting rod 32 rearwardly to have the finger 34 against the door11 when in its closed position. In this position, the display or signalplate 26 does not appear above the top of the box 10, and therefore theabsence of any signal appearing above the box would indicate one of twothings, either that mail placed in the box has not as yet been picked upby the carrier, or that the carrier has `gone on past without eitherpicking up mail or leaving mail. It is to beV remembered that the ownerof the box, in case he places mail in the box, will have raised the redliag 27a on the opposite side of the box to signal to the carrier tostop for mail thus deposited. Thus when the plate 26 does not appearabove the box top, but the ag 27a does, the condition thus indicated isthat the mail carrier has not as yet been along. Then when the mailcarrier does come along, either to pick up the mail in the box or putmail in the box, he will pull the door 11 open and drop it downwardly,the door being hinged on the Aaxis of the rivet 40,'Fig. l, in the usualmanner, and in so doing, the door 11 will push against the finger 34 orany abutting member 37 thereon, so that as the door is opened, that nger34 on the axis of the head 36 will be pulled around on the arc 41 asindicated in dash lines in Fig. 1, and this travel ofthe finger 34 willrock the connecting link 30 and also pull the connecting rod 32forwardly and carry the front end 39 downwardly to bring the arm 24 withsignal plate 26 to its upright position and to have further down travelof the door arrested by reason of the rod 32 striking and resting on theforward edge of the bracket 28. The signal 26 will thus remain in thatposition until the owner comes toA the box and resets the signal bydropping it back to its normal inoperative or non-signaling position.

` Therefore, it is to be seen that I have provided a structure which maybe readily attached to the standard mail box without any changewhatsoever in the actual structure of the box, without drilling holestherethrough, and without any obstructions placed in the path of thehand of the mail carrier when he operates the door 11. The structure maybe readily applied to any mail box of the standard type simply bymounting the plate 18 thereon and tightening the screws 22 and 23. Thestructure is of value because of its extreme simplicity and ease ofattachment to the box, as well as for its actual result in providing thesignal.

While I have herein shown and described my invention in the oneparticular form as now best known to me, it is obvious that structuralchanges may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention,and I therefore do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyondthe limitations which may be imposed by the following claim.

I claim:

For a mail box having a depending ange along a side therof, and an enddoor hinged at its bottom end across the box, a signal device erected byopening travel of the door comprising a mounting member engaging |aboutsaid flange and adjustably secured along said side;'a signal arm pivotedby one end on a rear end portion of said member; a signal member on theother end of the arm;

, a link of lesser length than that of said signal arm pivoted pivot atsaid mounting member; a finger carried by said link extending into thepath of said door in downwardly swinging travel thereof; said-connecting rod having a major straight length extending from saidsignal arm, from which length a minor length approximately equal to thelength of said link extends at an obtuse angle therefrom; the spacingapart of the pivot connections of Vsaid arm and said link on saidmounting member, the

f location of the connecting rod pivot along said arm, the

length of said link, and the overall length of said rod bringing thesignal arm from near a horizontal position to an upright position uponopening and swinging of said Ydoor downwardly against said finger; andan abutment v limiting travel of the arm to said upright position; saidcarried by said mounting member in the path of said rod connecting rodbeing disposed in said arm position to position said finger below thepivot connections of said arm and said link with said mounting memberand support the door in its opened position.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,543,072 Fenner June 23, 1925 1,927,736 Davis Sept. 19, 1933 1,949,578Ott Mar. 6, 1934 2,092,561 Sandifur Sept. 7, 1937 2,636,669 Mossman Apr.28, 1953

